The prototype for Autonauts has been available on itch.io since July 2017. Ever since this demo version launched, fans have been discussing the possibilities found within the blocky world. Autonauts puts you in charge of colonizing uninhabited planets. Similar to games like Minecraft, players start with nothing and work to harvest natural resources and built an automated robot empire.
Automatization is key to success in this world. Until you get that set up, everything must be done by hand, the old fashion way. Progress through technological ages and eventually reach a level of total autonomy.
This game wins on its base simplicity. Like Minecraft, the simple gameplay mixed with the creative freedom to make the game yours. This level of personalization in games is starting to appear more frequency, and for better or worse, fans are loving it.
Unlike other games that spawn you into existence, Autonauts places you fresh from your spaceship on a whole new world. You must harvest, build, and advance by crafting items and blueprints. Slowly you build worker bots to aid in the effort of evolving your colony from a simple village into a robotic empire.
The game has limited programming that will let you teach your worker bots how to complete tasks. It is a visual programming language that is easy to learn but has numerous possibilities to be successful. This is the baby steps but a key ingredient to learning how to program, and to understand how to automate your growing colony.
Familiar concepts are mixed in with crafting upon crafting built on the robotic foundations. You have limitless opportunities to automate and colonize as you expand your game to other islands. This is truly a charming and creative low-poly world.
Autonauts tries to combine the best of agriculture, simulation, crafting, building, and resource management games to bring a new experience to players. There is some concern as to having too many options, but the robotic helpers definitely cut down on the work. There is already a wiki and discord server surrounding this game, and fans are trading tips, tricks, and recipes to create the best-automated empire in all of the space.
This game is available for PC via Steam, and it only costs $19.99. If you purchase before October 24, you can save 20%, bringing the price down to only $15.99. This game is great for children and provides a casual stimulating environment to learn and grow along with your Autonaut colony.
